Vulnerable
by Klutzygirl33
Summary: Santana Lopez had never felt so vulnerable in her life. Brittany had hurt her. However, their issues can be fixed. Brittany/Santana. Spoilers for "Sexy".


**Disclaimer**: I don't own Glee and never will. No copyright infringement intended.

**Author's Note**: Last night's episode broke me. Naya was amazing. I had to fix it between Santana and Brittany, so here it is. Enjoy!

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Santana Lopez had been vulnerable for the first time in her life by telling Brittany Pierce she was in love with her, and it had backfired. She was never going open up her feelings again, so her walls went up higher than ever before. Santana irrationally hated Artie for taking Brittany away from her. She kept glaring at him every time they saw each other, whether it was in class, Glee Club, or in the hallways.

"Get out of my way," she snapped at Artie in the cafeteria two days after the hallway confession deemed "The Incident Santana Never Wanted to Talk about Again."

"What is your problem?" Artie questioned. Santana had always been a bitch, but she had stepped it up a notch in the past few days. He was confused.

"Nothing. Get out of my way!" Santana sighed angrily and then moved around and bolted to a table. She tried not to yell at Brittany when the blonde girl sat down right next to her.

"You okay?" Brittany was worried about Santana. She knew she had hurt Santana and wished she hadn't, but she didn't want to hurt Artie either.

"I'm fine!" That did it. Santana got up and moved over to another table. She didn't even want to talk to Brittany right now. It hurt too much.

Brittany was confused. Santana had always been nice to her, even when they had an occasional fight. Had she caused this?

"Just ignore her, Brittany. She's in a mood." Artie smiled and his girlfriend and started eating his lunch.

"Thanks, Artie. I will!" Brittany tried to go back to eating, but her mind kept wandering to Santana. It was all she could think about.

After school let out and Cheerios practice was over, Santana went home and headed straight to her bedroom. She wanted to be alone. It was easier to be alone.

Meanwhile, Brittany went back to Artie's house to spend some time with her boyfriend. "Brittany, are you okay? You seem distracted." He hadn't been told much, but Artie knew that Brittany and Santana had had a fight. She wouldn't tell him what it was about, though, saying it had been a private conversation.

"I'm okay, Artie."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Brittany smiled at him, but even Artie could tell it was faked. Brittany was always so happy. It was one of the many things Artie loved about her.

"Brittany, tell me."

Brittany sighed. "I can't betray Santana's trust like that." She didn't want to hurt her anymore. Brittany hated to see Santana cry, like she had the other day in the hallway. And she wanted to be with Santana so bad since she loved her, but hurting Artie would be cruel.

"Come on. You can tell me." Artie wasn't prepared for the words that came out of his girlfriend's mouth next.

"I'm in love with Santana!" And then she began to cry.

Artie stared at her in shock for a few minutes, and then slowly began to piece all the clues together. Recently, they had sung the "Landslide" duet and started crying. Did that have something to do with their fight? And Brittany and Santana were practically inseparable. How many other clues had he missed? "You're in love with Santana?"

Brittany nodded. "I think I ruined everything!" Santana had told her that there would be no more cuddles or sex anymore after she revealed her feelings. Brittany was dumb, but she knew that her rejection had ended what relationship they did have.

"Okay then. Let me deal with this for a few more minutes."

"You're not mad at me, are you? Because I love you and I couldn't hurt you, but I love her too," Brittany rambled. She had hurt Santana instead, which was unacceptable in her world. She had never hurt her best friend/girlfriend like that before.

"Of course I'm not mad at you. You can't help who you love, Brit."

Brittany sighed and tried to stop her sobs. It was a futile effort as she continued to cry on Artie's bed. "I'm so sorry!"

"Brittany, you don't have to be sorry. I understand. I'm going to end our relationship. I know you love me, but you love her more. It's obvious now that I see all the clues that were right in front of my face. You need to be with Santana. She makes you happy." Artie's heart was breaking, but he gave her a smile anyway.

"Really?" Brittany was sad that Artie was breaking up with her, but she felt better now. All these emotions were confusing her. She didn't know what to do with her feelings.

"Really. Go tell Santana how you feel. I bet you'll be happier when you do that." Artie grinned at her and then gave his ex-girlfriend a small kiss. Hopefully, when Brittany and Santana were together, Santana would be less bitchy.

"Thank you." Brittany got up off the bed and then bolted out of the house. She was going to see Santana.

Santana was shocked when her door opened and Brittany stepped in. "What are you doing here?" She had made it explicitly clear to her that their relationship was over. Brittany was a little dumb, but she had to have understood that.

Brittany beamed at her. "Artie and I broke up. Well, he broke up with me. I love you too, Santana. I want to be with you. Artie isn't the right person for me. What do you say?"

Santana couldn't believe it. "Why did you two break up?"

"Because I started crying and told him I loved you. He broke up with me."

"Oh, so is that how it is? Because Artie broke up with me, you want to come crawling back to me? Well, that's not going to work. We can never be together again, Brittany. We're done. Get out of my house!"

"No, that's not it at all. I'm so sorry, Santana!" Brittany was still smiling and that was pissing Santana off even more.

"I don't accept your apology. NOW GET OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Santana was aware that she was screaming and her parents could probably hear her, but she didn't cry.

Brittany's smile faded. Santana hated her now. She just knew it. So, Brittany listened and ran out of the house.

Santana closed her bedroom door and sunk to the floor. She lowered her head into her arms and began sobbing. She wasn't going to be Brittany's second choice. She didn't want to be the second choice.

The next day at school, Brittany and Santana avoided each other at all costs. Everyone stopped to comment on it, since the two Cheerios practically never left each other's side.

"I think there's something seriously wrong," Rachel commented.

It was killing Artie to keep the secret Brittany had confessed to him, but he wasn't going to betray her trust. He was going to keep quiet.

"We should find out what it is." That came from Sam. Santana had broken up with him for some unknown reason, but he was still worried about her.

"Are you sure you should get involved?" Will think Santana and Brittany fighting was out of character for them both, but it wasn't affecting Glee. At least, not yet.

"Of course we should! They might need our help!" Rachel was adamant to discover the truth and fix what was wrong between Brittany and Santana. This could be her new mission!

"Don't let it affect Glee," Will warned. When Rachel Berry set her mind to something, no one was able to change it.

Rachel dragged a reluctant Finn, Puck, Lauren, and Quinn into her plans to fix Brittany and Santana. The two girls' problems continued for two weeks. At one point, Quinn and Rachel locked them in a closet for a few hours. However, Santana came out angrier than ever and Brittany was sobbing.

Eventually, the fighting did start to affect Glee Club and Will had had enough. Santana refused to sing with Brittany anymore, and the fighting was getting worse. "Come up with a good plan to fix them. I can't take it anymore, and neither can anyone else."

"Is that approval from you, Mr. Schue?" Rachel questioned gleefully.

Will rolled his eyes. "Yes, it is. Come up with a good plan to get those two talking again. And don't lock them in the closet again. It won't work."

Rachel squealed and then ran off to do some plotting with her reluctant cohorts. Their plans – forcing Santana and Brittany to sit together in the auditorium, locking them in the closet again, and even more outlandish ideas – didn't work.

Eight weeks after Brittany and Santana's huge fight, Rachel still wasn't ready to give up. She finally came up with a good plan she hoped would work.

"Will you stop it, Berry? You're really making me now!" Santana told Rachel. Rachel ignored her and continued to push her down the hallway, until they were in front of Emma Pillsbury's office.

"You are going to talk this out with Santana if it's the last thing I do!" Puck walked up to Emma's office with Brittany in tow. He and Rachel forced them inside.

"So, Rachel tells me you two are having issues. Want to tell me what's going on?" Emma questioned.

"I don't want to talk about it," Santana snapped.

"She hates me now. I don't blame her."

"I'm sure Santana doesn't hate you, Brittany. Am I right?"

"I don't hate you," Santana reluctantly admitted. She could never hate Brittany. She loved her too much to ever hate her.

Brittany sighed in relief. "You don't? I ruined everything. I know that. But you have to know I didn't mean to!"

Emma smiled at them. "This is good. You're finally talking to each other."

"I didn't want to be your second choice. You hurt me a lot, Brit." Santana hated that she was opening up again, that her walls were finally coming down. But she was tired of fighting with the woman she loved.

"You were never my second choice, Santana. You have to believe me. And I'm so sorry I hurt you. I love you." Brittany tried not to cry, but she couldn't help it.

Santana tried not to start crying, but it was hard when Brittany was crying. "It's okay. I forgive you. And I know you didn't mean to hurt me. It was hard for me to be that vulnerable. And I love you, too."

"Can we be together now? For real?"

"Of course we can." Santana finally gave in and began crying. She leaned in for a kiss, and before anyone could blink, Brittany and Santana were making out.

Emma gaped at the two girls in shock. Her mouth was wide open and she tried talking, but no words would form. She had no idea that Brittany and Santana were that close! However, it did explain a lot. When they finally pulled apart, she asked them a question. "Are you two okay now? Worked out all your issues?"

Santana beamed. "Yeah, I think we have. Thanks, Miss Pillsbury. I appreciate it." She grabbed Brittany's hand and walked out of the room. Although she was still terrified of what people thought about her, Santana didn't care at the moment. She was finally with the woman she loved!

They got stares all the way down the hallway, but mostly everyone was excited that they had made up. Maybe Santana would calm down now that she and Brittany were talking again.

They made their way to Glee. Santana made her way to a terrified Rachel and pulled her aside. "You drive me nuts, but thank you, Berry. I appreciate it." She hugged her and then went to go sit down next to her girlfriend.

"You want to tell them?" Brittany asked. She and Santana had decided to let their relationship go public.

"Sure. Brittany and I are in love with each other. Deal with it, or you'll have to deal with my fist in your face." And with that, Santana turned around and kissed Brittany again.

Their friends were in shock, but mostly everyone congratulated them on telling the truth. They were just glad Santana and Brittany weren't fighting anymore.

Nothing would ever be able to tear apart Santana and Brittany again.

For the first time in two months, Santana was glad to have talked about feelings. It had led to her and Brittany becoming a real couple, after all.

She had to thank Holly Holiday the next time she saw her. She was partially responsible for her and Brittany's relationship.

And they were also forever (and reluctantly) grateful to Rachel Berry for interfering.


End file.
